Democrats poised to offer two years of free community...

1of25Then-presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at a campaign stop at Solano Community College in June 2016. Sanders’ campaign plank of free college tuition is being picked up by many Democrats, including two California legislators who plan to propose that the state pay for two years of community college tuition for full-time students.Photo: Michael Noble Jr. / The Chronicle

2of25.Photo: SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

3of25Kids under 12 can no longer be prosecuted for crimes other than certain violent felonies, which include murder and sexual assault (SB 439).Photo: Ariusz

5of25The minimum age for buying rifles and shotguns is now 21 (SB 1100). Read more here.Photo: George Frey / Getty Images

6of25Cosmetics tested on animals cannot be sold in California starting in 2020, unless the testing occurred before 2020 (SB 1249). There are several exceptions to the requirements, including if the testing was required to be complaint with another country's laws.Photo: Karen Warren, Staff photographer

7of25Net neutrality is protected in California. Customers are guaranteed access to all streaming services and websites regardless of what internet service provider they use, and companies cannot exempt their own services from counting toward data caps (SB 822). Read more here.Photo: Elise Amendola / Associated Press

8of25BART is empowered to build dense housing and commercial development on its parking lots and other properties, and the abilities of cities to resist the construction is limited (AB 2923). Read more here.Photo: Gabrielle Lurie / Special to The Chronicle 2016

9of25Veterinarians can now talk to pet owners about cannabis as a treatment option for their patients without fearing censure or retaliation from state licensing boards. (AB 2215).Photo: Filipa Ioannou/SFGATE

10of25All companies with at least five employees must now provide sexual harassment prevention training to all employees by January 1, 2020 (SB 1343).Photo: Getty Images

11of25Doctors placed on probation for serious misconduct, including sexual misconduct, must now notify their patients (SB 1448).Photo: Caiaimage/Rafal Rodzoch/Getty Images/Caiaimage

14of25San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles have more latitude to expand the conditions under which someone can be involuntarily committed for mental illness (SB 1045). Read more here.Photo: Michael Maloney, SFC

15of25Cash bail has been abolished in an effort to lessen the disparity between rich and poor in the justice system (SB 10). Read more here.Photo: Kathy Willens / Associated Press

16of25Home cooks can now sell their food directly to the public (AB 626). Read more here.Photo: Hero Images/Getty Images/Hero Images

21of25Body cam footage must be released within 45 days of the discharge of a firearm or use-of-force incidents involving death or serious bodily harm (AB 748).Photo: TOM REEL, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

22of25California police records relating to use-of-force incidents and cases of lying while on duty and sexual assault are no longer confidential; they are now public record (SB 1421).Photo: Sarah Ravani /

California community college students could reap the benefits of Democratic dominance in the state Legislature, with lawmakers pushing for the state to cover the cost of two years of tuition for students who commit to enrolling full time right out of high school.

Democratic lawmakers across the country have made affordability at public colleges and universities a rallying cry, with free tuition programs popping up at the state and local levels. During the 2018 midterms, the free-college mantra of Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders became a key campaign promise for liberal candidates in congressional and state races. Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom pledged during his own campaign to make the first two years of community college free in California, as did some of his Democratic challengers.

“This is about strengthening the middle class,” said Assemblyman Miguel Santiago, D-Los Angeles, who partnered with Assemblymen David Chiu, D-San Francisco, and Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, to pass a bill last year making the first year of community college free for full-time freshmen. Democrats were solidly behind AB19 — all the “no” votes came from Republicans, who will be even more badly outnumbered next year and unable to block anything, including the Democratic legislators’ new measure.

Their AB2, introduced this month, would waive tuition for the second year as long as a student takes a full course load each semester and remains continuously enrolled. Santiago said that requirement will get students to an associate’s degree or certificate program quicker and improve the pipeline between community colleges and the state’s public university systems.

The two-year savings for a student taking 12 units a semester would be $2,208. That could mean the difference between having to take out more loans or pick up extra hours at a job. But it also costs taxpayers millions a year: Click here to read about that and the rest of the story.

Deep dives and late takes

Bottles of alcohol line the bar at Orsons Belly cafe in San Francisco on July 4.

Photo: Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

•Drink till 4 a.m.: State Sen. Scott Wiener is going to take a third try at allowing San Francisco, Oakland and several other cities to set rules for nightlife businesses to serve alcohol until 4 a.m., two hours later than under current law.

•Keeping hope alive: More than 12,000 people paid their way into San Jose’s SAP Center to have former first lady Michelle Obama apply a kind of balm. “The crowd was with her because it needed the comfort of not being against, not having to resist,” Namwali Serpell reports.

•Striking out: Bruce Maxwell, onetime catcher for the Oakland A’s, was the only Major League Baseball player to emulate Colin Kaepernick by taking a knee during the National Anthem. Now he has something else in common with the ex-49ers quarterback, Susan Slusser reports: He can’t find a job.

•Arrests on ICE:Arrests of undocumented immigrants are up in most parts of the country under President Trump, but there’s a notable exception, Tal Kopan reports: Northern California, where state law and many cities discourage law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

Sound bite

What’s a city to do with unexpected riches? We break down the fight over spending a $181 million property-tax windfall.Will it go to homeless programs? Teachers? Maybe buying up some of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s power lines? City Hall reporters Trisha Thadani and Dominic Fracassa go through the politics of it all on a City Insider podcast.

The Trump turnout

People wait in long lines to register and vote at the Los Angeles County registrar’s office in Los Angeles on Nov. 6.

Photo: Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press

Like him or not, President Trump gets people to the polls — even when he’s not on the ballot.

But the chance for voters to send a message about Trump, even through proxy elections such as those for the House, proved to be almost as strong an attraction for voters as the 2016 presidential election was. That election brought more voters to the California polls than any since 1984, save one — the 2008 vote in the midst of an economic crisis that resulted in Barack Obama’s election.

After parsing all the numbers, the state reported that 50.45 percent of eligible adults voted last month in California. That tied 1982 for the highest turnout of eligible adults in a midterm year since 1970, when Ronald Reagan was running for a second term as governor.

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No county was more engaged last month than Marin, the secretary of state reported. Turnout there was 72.8 percent of eligible adults, topping No. 2 Nevada County, where 70 percent of those eligible cast ballots.

Melody Gutierrez joined the San Francisco Chronicle in 2013 to cover politics from the Sacramento bureau. Previously, she was a senior writer who covered politics, education and sports for The Sacramento Bee.

With an emphasis on watchdog reporting, she has written investigative stories on pension spiking, high school steroid use, troubles in a school police force and how the state failed to notify a school district that a teacher was barred from foster care parenting due to multiple molestation allegations.

She has also examined the state’s use of segregation cells for prisoners, detailed legislative and legal efforts to curtail "revenge porn" and chronicled the effects of the drought in California.